Deforestation in Armenia
Ijevan-Dilijan Road, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Leaving Ijevan for Yerevan earlier this afternoon the roads were full of people, old and young, transporting wood home to use as fuel and for heating. As an example, the kid in the photo above said that even though his village now had gas, it was too expensive for his family to afford. Wood was the cheapest and most readily available alternative. No wonder then, that deforestation in Armenia has reached catastrophic levels although contrary to popular opinion, this can not be put down to the energy crisis of the early 1990s.
Some would even argue that it is not even socially vulnerable families that have no option but to use wood fires even in Yerevan that are responsible. Simply, oversight mechanisms are not working, corruption is rampant, and businessmen and officials have a lot to gain from the wholescale destruction of Armenia’s last remaining forests. Environmentalists warn that there won’t be any left by 2024 at the present rate of deforestation.
Even so, several local NGOs and international organizations are working on this problem, and in recent years have actually achieved success in saving nature reserves such as Shikahogh — something I wrote about for Oneworld.net.
Government-connected businessmen and state officials engaged in the illegal export of timber from Armenia are mostly to blame for the former Soviet republic’s dwindling number of forests. Whereas 11 per cent of the republic was covered by forests in 1991, the figure stands at below 8 per cent today. Environmentalists warn that unless current trends are reversed, Armenia will be forestless by 2024.
[…]
Meanwhile, public outcry has at least united NGOs in Armenia. Dozens of NGOs working within a coalition to save the nature reserve say that an alternate route should be taken and, already, extensive media coverage has forced the government to suspend construction for 15 days. However, while construction in the reserve has not yet started, bulldozers are still clearing the way for the access road.
[…]
Concern over the fate of Shikahogh and Mtnadzor has also spread far beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet republic. In the influential Armenian Diaspora, Carolyn Mugar, founder of the Armenian Tree Project and Executive Director of the US Farm Aid organization, has already started a letter writing campaign to lobby the Armenian Embassy in Washington.
Since then, the Minister for Transport and Communication, Andranik Manukian, has told the ArmInfo news agency that the government would now look at alternate routes and requested that environmentalists put in as much energy into securing extra finance for the project as they have in protesting. Paradoxically, he also declared that this “change of heart†had nothing to do with the campaign by environmentalists to save Shikahogh.
One thing that struck me about the campaign to save Shikahogh was how a variety of people from all walks of life became involved, and despite all the odds, actually managed to force the Armenian government to overturn its initial decision to construct a highway through it. There were local Armenians, foreigners and Diaspora — young and old, rich and poor, pro-government as well as supporters of the opposition.
Basically, encompassing several issues such as community involvement in decision-making, anti-corruption initiatives and education as well as the environment itself, what I saw was perhaps the most only genuine manifestation of a pro-democracy movement in Armenia today. Therefore, it was with great pleasure that I accompanied the Armenian Forests NGO to Ijevan and Gosh in the Tavoush region of the Republic to see one of their USAID-funded projects aiming to involve local communities in planting trees.
Armenian Forests NGO began in 2002 as a project of the Tufenkian Foundation, and was registered as an independent organization in February 2003. The NGO was founded by the successful entrepreneur, James Tufenkian, who works to advance social justice through his business and philanthropic endeavors. Armenian Forests NGO is the outgrowth of his concern and determination to do what is needed to protect and restore Armenia’s threatened forests while helping to create jobs and build the economy.
As a means of reclaiming, protecting, and expanding forested areas, Armenian Forests NGO involves individuals, communities, other NGOs, government, and businesses in a variety of solutions on multiple fronts including changes in policies, norms of thinking and action, economic improvement, public education, and media advocacy.
Ijevan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Accompanying Armenian Forests’ Mher Sharoyan in addition to myself for today’s trip to see trees being planted were three journalists from Hetq Online, A1 Plus and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s Max Liberty. Vartuhi will be writing an article on the day’s events for Hetq and I’ll likely be putting together a proper photo essay, but for now a few pics taken of faces encountered along the way. Later, I’ll post some photos of the tree planting in Ijevan and Gosh itself.
In the meantime, Hetq Online has a lot of material in the ecology section of its website.
Incidentally, Armenian Forests were one of the NGOs involved in the campaign to prevent the construction by a senior government official of yet another cafe in central Yerevan. I posted some pics of that event here. There’s also an interview I conducted with Jeffrey Tufenkian here.
Left to Right: Journalists from Hetq Online, A1 Plus and Max Liberty, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Mher Sharoyan, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006